One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and The Bell Jar - Book Report/Review Example

Reality and Sanity in 1950s Fiction Both One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Bell Jar take up as a fundamental theme a question that has become increasingly more complex and difficult to satisfactorily answer. That question centers upon which standards of society must be violated in order to be considered mentally disturbed. Within that question is the more germane one of who is to be imbued with the power to decide which societal standards must be closely adhered to as a determinant of sanity. As this theme is explored the typical route becomes one in which more questions are raised than answered. For instance, to what extent is sanity defined by conforming to prevailing notions of reality What is reality and how can the departure from the constrictions of societal conformity be categorized into creative eccentricity and dangerously deviant behavior Both these novels spend considerable time drawing parallels between the inside of a mental institution and the outside word to which the inmates present a supposed threat. Outside of the mental institution, the characters at some point breached the unspoken contract by which all people are expected to conduct themselves so as to better ensure the seamless progression of society. The terms of breaking this implicit agreement by which everyone is expected to conform to imposed norms of behavior results in incarceration. The paradox, of course, is that the same societal restrictions and urging of conformity and obedience exists within the institution. The difference is that the coercion of the outside world is replaced by the much more palpable compulsive techniques that take place within the institution; things like forced medication and even electro-convulsive therapy. The similarities between what is enforced by society both within and without makes up the thematic bulk of both novels, leaving the reader to question not just This is why they are living in the institution- they violated these norms of behavior and interaction. Some of the patients were voluntary, but they felt that they were inconsistent with the interactions with others in their personal lives. Others, like McMurphy, were seen as dangerous or unhealthy to society, and their interactions or behaviors were inappropriate when compared with the non-material culture of their society. These infringements of accepted norms and conventions result in the sanctioned quarantine of them from society at large, effectively creating a false bifurcation meant to imply that reality can be found in the mores, values and behavior condoned outside the walls of the hospital. In both the novels, the patients are prescribe and administered medical treatment that begins with pills and often ends with shock treatment or, even worse, lobotomy. The connotations of shock treatment have always been somewhat removed from the reality in the treatment has taken on the appearance to the outside world of a nearly-last resort that seems to confirm an a priori assessment that those who have reached the state where such a treatment is deemed necessary must by definition be detached from reality. In One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest McMurphy in the catalyst that drives the narrative toward its confrontation of this thematic element, focusing on McMurphy's effort to force the issue to the floor of the acute ward. McMurphy serves to draw into relief the vital queries at issue regarding societal classifications of sanity, pointing explicitly to the idea that sanity seems to reside in the ability to do nothing more than merely conform to certain agreed-upon standards of behavior. Upon discovering that quite a few of the patients on the ward are there voluntarily, he is moved to question that sanity of that decision, drawing into the distinction the unique culpability of those who do voluntarily commit themselves. The words directed toward Billy Bibbit contain tow levels of accusations, both accusing society of being injudicious in its targeting of deviancy and accusing Billy himself of being liable for circumstances and condition: "You, you're not exactly the everyday man on the street, but you're not nuts" (167). Billy's reply to this accusation is quite telling; his rationalization of not having the intestinal fortitude to deal with the reality outside is an apt answer to both elements posed in McMurphy's accusation. Billy is also responding to both the specific reality of Nurse Ratched and her use as a symbol for the authority of the outside world in which reality is structured upon cultural assumptions and in which any deviance from those assumptions is immediately viewed with suspicion. In the case of the males on the ward overseen by Ratched, this entails the systematic weakening of the male ego. This is a very effective tool used by Kesey to reveal how outside society defines insanity as a means by which the prevailing power structure can utilize it as a device for the dehumanization of those who don't conform to these societal expectations. This kind of society views reality as a place where individuality is expressed in safe and ultimately ironically homogenized ways in which people become little more than figuratively lobotomized robots. McMurphy acts as the dangerous light that illuminates the danger of this perception. In The Bell Jar, it is Esther who detects that bifurcation that exists between society norms and her own natural tendencies toward rebellion, but unlike Billy Bibbit and the males on Ratched's war, it is not a lack of guts that causes her to descend into a reality that others label insanity. Society places expectations on the female, to be sure, but overcoming those requires far more than having the will to face down the expectations of masculinity. All of society, every aspect of it, worked in conjunction during the 1950so to subjugate women into an ever narrower box than men. The common perception was that any woman who failed to display a good nature and the drive to marry was open to questions about her sanity. It was a perfect world for white, educated, beautiful young women, after all, and if it isn't really then it was certainly close enough that any woman who felt otherwise should be willing to suppress any negative emotions to the contrary. Esther's view of her own reality is inescapably at odds with the her feelings of what she is supposed to experience; relationships with men don't be romance, but suspicion, and the glamour of the New York fashion scene is replaced by utter disillusionments. At every point along the way, Esther is alienated from what is commonly viewed as reality; what should be right is deemed wrong and what should be wrong feels uniquely right. The bell jar itself is an apt feeling for this smoky reality by virtue of the fact that it is a metaphor for both how society views those inside an institution and for how the institution is itself merely a reflection of outside society. Esther feels trapped inside the bell jar, but even the outside offers little in the way of hope. The bell jar symbolizes the depths of mental instability to which Esther is subject, but it is also indicts outside society as well. The bell jar is used explicitly to draw interesting analogous relationships between being on the inside and being on the outside of the mental institution. Specifically, the supposed dissimilarity between society and the world inside the institution is challenged in the later chapters of the book when Esther moves into Belsize. The fact that Esther moves about in a more upscale orbit outside makes the correlation even stronger, thereby implicitly suggesting that the rules of the game of sanity and insanity are dictated by those on the higher ring of the outside world. What takes place in this section is an almost total reproduction of the very social milieu in which Esther moves. Even within the confines of an asylum, it becomes impossible for Esther to fully get away from those elements of outside society that she herself views as maddening; things like gossip and the obsessions of class. The implication is unavoidable: women of this period are not even expected to possess any insight or interest in matters of substance, they are expected to behave like a lobotomized McMurphy whether inside or outside the institution. As Esther admits, "I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air" (185). The fog that Chief Bromden describes is analogous to the Esther's bell jar. Chief Bromden is a certified paranoid schizophrenic patient who experiences hallucinations that he believes are real and created by a machine. The fog is mechanism that serves to protect Bromden from reality; much like the man-made fog protected him from enemy weapons during the war. Like the bell jar, however, the fog serves a dual purpose that serves to heighten the questions regarding inside and outside reality. Chief asserts that fog will continue protecting him as long as he remains mute, but that very inability to articulate a truth correlates with the undermining of individualism that drives Esther into the institution. Of course, Bromden is right, however. Staying mute will protect him at the cost of conformity. This becomes apparent through the appearance of McMurphy onto ward. McMurphy's outrageous and no-hold-barred approach to pointing out how the society inside is quite relevant to the world outside, including class distinctions and the perversion of democracy, results in a conclusion that puts Bromden's long survival inside the ward in stark counterpoint to McMurphy's quick rise and fall. Bromden recognizes this situation as well, as can be inferred from his assertion that the "last few days they been doing it more and more. It's my idea they're doing it on account of McMurphy" (118). In addition, the chief notes there is a marked decrease in both the thickness of the fog and the regularity with which it arises as he himself becomes more attuned to McMurphy's reasoning and his symbolic role as a messenger of truth. Following the debate over watching the baseball game, the Chief summarizes that role: "we let McMurphy lure us out of the fog" (130). Part of the underlying construction of the institution as a microcosm for reality that is meant to contrast the outside world with that within, but only succeeds in drawing distinct parallels, revolves around the bureaucratic establishment that encodes and enforces the rules of reality and sanity. Class division, laws, rules and regulations exist both in society and within the walls of the institution. Doctors, nurses, and orderlies are all given guidelines to follow regarding tasks such as treating patients and positioning themselves within a hierarchy among the workers. One thing that remains always certain, however, is the members of the bureaucracy always more power than the patients. Reality is turned on its head as black orderlies are able to order white men around inside the mental institution in a manner that might well get them lynched on the outside. The combine that Chief Bromden speaks of is the symbol of the power of the institution, both literally in the form of the mental hospital and the figurative collection of power that operates in society. The Bell Jar takes more specific critical stance toward institutional bureaucracy than does Cuckoo's Nest, which offers a more allegorical critique. This negative assessment is imitated when Esther visits Buddy's medical school and finds herself less than impressed by the doctors who act more like arrogant petitioners for God than life saving angels. Dr. Gordon is found by Esther to be self-involved and detached from what she considers appropriate levels of empathy. Esther soon finds that her view of the medical establishment as elitist and self-serving extends beyond her own apparently deviant world view when Joan relates similar tales of lack of sensitivity from male therapists. The dependence upon medical technology that isn't fully understood is also related to this idea of the good of the combine. Shock therapy is considered an almost fail-safe method for doing what medication and therapy doesn't and works within the institution as a substitute for commitment to the institution outside among society. But just as the reality is that not everyone is suitable for commitment, nor is everyone suitable for shock treatment. Following one shock treatment in particular, for instance, Esther finds that no longer has the ability to think clearly and definitely about knives, a perfect metaphor for the underlying statement that shock treatment and institution are both designed in some ways for the purpose of reducing to a dull instrument the sharpest and most innovative of minds. McMurphy, by contrast, consistently calls into question the very nature of medicating patients against the idea of reality. The doctors that Esther view as so high up the hierarchy they naturally assume their superiority are the ones in charge of the decision-making process concerning what kind of medication or treatment is necessary for making the patients more pliable to outside conventions of reality and sanity. The problem that McMurphy recognizes too late and that encourages Chief Bromden to finally reject the safety of the fog is that these decisions are made within a vacuum of absolute authority. Unless the powers can either coerce or force one to adhere to strictly defined conventions of reality and sanity, the ultimate decision will be to dismantle all pretenses of humanity and individualism. For some this ends with commitment; for others like McMurphy it can only be accomplished through the literal act of carving their humanity away from them. Throughout both One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Bell Jar sanity and insanity are compared and the reality of society with the delusions of the mentally impaired are contrasted to reveal a synthesis that exists at all levels. Ken Kesey takes the approach of forcing the reader to recognize the validity of divergent perceptions and perspectives, while Plath focuses specifically on one character, but a character whose gender expectations at a certain place and time in America serve to call into question many of the commonly held assumptions about roles played not only according to the sexes, but to the classes. Both novels hold a light up to expose the fact that what defines reality and sanity in the America at the time was, in many cases, nothing more dangerous than the refusal to conform to the expectations of the ruling class. Read More